Who Are The Outhousers?

It's like the old saying goes: you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose. Likewise, you cannot pick your comic book journalists. That's why, for so long, you were pretty much stuck with CBR. The Outhousers may not be the comics journalists you deserve, but we're the comics journalists you need right now. The Outhousers have come to save comics... from themselves!

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The Bullpen

Contributors

Eric Ratcliffe is the host of The Why I Love Comics podcast, as well as the writer of the long running and award winning webcomic New Comic Day! When not interviewing the biggest names in geek culture, Eric writes the occasional column about something he is enjoying or informing people about webseries, podcasts, gadgets or many other cool things. You can also find Eric on Email / twitter / facebook / youtube / steam / x-box live and many other social media avenues on the internet.

Gavin Dillinger exists in a constant state of restlessness as he runs between two jobs and spends every spare moment writing articles or scripts. He has also perfected the art of being simultaneously dead tired and jacked on coffee, and is the best-selling author of When is the Right Age to Tell Your Highway It's Adopted. Gavin graduated Cum Laude from MTSU and should probably get a real job. You can follow him on Twitter or see a random thought on tumblr once every three five months.

RU, or as he’s known in the writers’ room: the cute one, is relatively unappreciated in his time. RU’s YouTube show, RUviews is watched by literally multiple people every month and his Outhouse articles have helped line many a bird cage. Before you send RU a message, he knows that there are misspelled words in this article, and probably in this bio he was asked to write. RU wants everyone to know that after 25+ years of collecting he still loves comic books and can’t believe how seriously fanboys take them. RU lives in Akron Ohio (unfortunately) with WIFE, ‘lilRuRu, and the @DogGodThor. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, & even Google+ (if anyone still uses that).

Gregory Anderson-Elysee is a Brooklyn born and based filmmaker (director and editor), playwright, comic book writer, model, and part time actor. He was one of the first writers and interviewers of The Outhouse. He is the writer and creator of the upcoming book Is'nana the Were-Spider. He can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

IvCNuB4 likes to maintain an air of mystery by never publicly revealing his true name unless you are one of the four lucky Outhouse posters he has PM'd it to. A life-long Chicago native, he was introduced to comics by his older brother's vast collection of Silver Age issues. When he is not at his day job as an IT geek or making the most of Chicago's three months of incredible summer, he can found spending way too much time with his very large, very loud Italian family. You will never find him on the likes of Facebook or Twitter as he scoffs at the necessity of most forms of social media.

Jacob Sailor? More like Jacob Seamen, amirite? Anyway... Jacob Sailor is the author of She Sees Metaphors (written as Bryce David Salazar) and co-host of the podcast We Write Weird Shit. You can find out more about him at www.BryceDavidSalazar.com.

While most kids spend their days dreaming of being firemen or astronauts, Jeff Moss was firmly holed up in his room with a stack of comic books and wrestling magazines, shying away from natural light. Jeff works as an editor at Blind Ferret and manages the subscription box service, Comic Bento Jeff lives with his Transformers, girlfriend and daughter who both don't get wrestling. He attended Wrestlemania 18, just ask him. He'll tell you all about it.

Jon James writes a lot of weird shit his mom isn't allowed to read. To see some of this weird shit, check out his website at jonjameswrites.com. Or, if you want to hear someone else reading it to you, check out his podcast, We Write Weird Shit on iTunes, Youtube, or RSS. He lives in Lansing, Michigan where he constantly changes interests, genres, and media in a frantic search for something he'd rather not think too much about.

Jude Terror is the Webmaster Supreme of The Outhouse and a sarcastic ace reporter dedicated to delivering irreverent comics and entertainment news to The Outhouse's dozens of loyal readers. Driven by a quest for vengeance, Jude Terror taught himself to program and joined The Outhouse. He instantly began working toward his goal of forcing the internet comics community to take itself less seriously and failing miserably. A certified trash eater ruining the pristine field of comics journalism with his sarcasm and goofiness, Jude Terror is secretly friendly and congenial, so if you've got a complaint, why not just bring it up to him instead of subtweeting like a jackass, jackass? You can find him on Twitter or try your luck with an email, but keep in mind that he is notoriously unreliable and may not get back to you right away. Unless you want to send him free stuff, in which case he'll get back to you immediately.

Hailing from the rolling hills of Farmington, Michigan, Justin writes with a DMX-like ferocity combined with the eloquence of a flock of doves from a John Woo movie. Justin is also the biggest Superman lover you'll meet and is one who is never afraid to admit something made him cry. He considers himself the Rap-Game Bob Ross.

Mike Ambrose isn't slow, he's just Canadian. Mike began collecting comics in 1991 with an allowance earned by doing chores on the family farm, snapping up anything that said "#1 Collector's Item" on the cover, including X-Men, Sleepwalker, and NFL Superpro. That is to say, Mike knows bullshit. These skills were further developed and finally acknowledged when he graduated from a well-regarded journalism and public relations college program. Mike lives in a surprisingly nice house in a pretty good neighbourhood with his loving girlfriend. Aside from comic books of all types, Mike enjoys cooking, rap music, and the rule of threes.

All his life, Scary Cleve wanted to write gruesome stories in a grim Scottish castle while sipping whiskey and contemplating his existential angst. Instead, he ended up living in Florida, so he does all this with a tan. He's been a life long fan of comics and plans on writing some. Until that day, he writes and edits about comics over at PopOptiq under the guise of Ben Howard, and he's more than happy to spread his filth to the Outhouse. Other interests include horror movies, heavy metal, and writing screenplays and occasional short stories.

SuperginraiX is the biggest sap on The Outhousers' payroll (wait, we get paid?). He reads every issue of every crappy Marvel crossover so you don't have to. Whats worse is that he pays for his books, thus condoning Marvel's behavior. If The Outhouse cared for his well being at all, they'd try and get him into some sort of rehab center. But, alas, none of us even know how to say his name. For a good time, ask Super why Captian America jumped off the Helicarrier in Fear Itself. Super lives in the frozen wastland that is Minnesota with 15% of the state's population living under his roof: a wife he makes wear an Optimus Prime mask, two gremlins, and his mother-in-law.

Tim Fielder is an illustrator, concept designer, cartoonist, animator, and creator of "Matty's Rocket." He has worked over the years in the storyboarding, film, visual development, gaming, comics, education, and animation industries. Tim has served clients such as Marvel Comics, The Village Voice, Tri-Star Pictures, Ubisoft Entertainment, New York University, and the New York Film Academy.

Born in the frozen tundra of Massachusetts, Tim Midura has long possessed a love for comic books and records. After stealing the beard of Zeus and inventing the pizza bagel, a much more heavily tattooed and bearded Tim Midura has finally settled in San Diego. He's the world's first comics journalist who doesn't want to become a comics writer. Find him on twitter, facebook or by email.

Tyler Kes is from Minnesota, although he spent some time living in West Virginia, where he graduated from Marshall University in 2013. He spent some time honing his writing skills by working at a newspaper and then at a TV station, but now makes his living making tacos and writing about comics.

Jeff Gwinnup/Writrzblok is a comic book-loving, movie-watching, mac-and-cheese devouring Florida-born nerd who would like to write for a living one day. That is, if the inanities and stress of modern living don't kill him first. He's been reviewing/critiquing in either print or video form for almost seven years and shows no signs of stop-
Wait, why is he writing in the third person? Who's typing this? WHO IS THIS?! GET AWAY FROM THAT KEYBOARD!

Alumni

John Condor hails from the red hot wastes of Arizona. When he isn't out looking for his next meal, usually in the form of a microwavable mac & cheese bowl or a sandwich he found on the sidewalk, he can be found in his room studying, chatting with his honey across the country, or reviewing comics. He usually sticks to the independent stuff, but occasionally he can be lured into the mainstream to read something that doesn't make him look like a complete hipster.

Before you ask, no, Dr. Improbable is not that kind of doctor, and will not be diagnosing your genital warts today. Seriously, put it away. The doc does more of the "mad science" brand of doctoring, though one day hopes to be that "time and space traveling" kind of doctor. In the meantime, Doc passes time cloning things, memorizing acronyms, and using large magnets. When not plotting all the terrible ways to destroy the human race (particularly those found on public transportation), the doc kills time by watching television and making sarcastic commentary on it.

El Presidente gave up his position as President and Prime Minister of Cuba, as well as First Secretary of Cuba's Communist Party, in 2008 in order to concentrate on his true love: Hollywood gossip reporting. Forming the rumor website Cubano Review, El Presidente built a name for himself based on over THREE DOZEN industry credited trade scoops. Unfortunately, capitalist American trade embargoes have rendered CubanoReview.com unreachable from within the United States, forcing El Presidente to syndicate his articles to The Outhouse, which flies under the radar of the American oligarchy thanks to most leaders assuming it is a scat porn site, which, to be fair, is basically true.

Elf With a Gun appeared in several Marvel comics of the 70s and 80s, most notably harassing The Defenders and Spider-Man, before being abducted by Steve Gerber for use as a foil against Destroyer Duck. After wandering the wastelands of Forgotten Comic Character Limbo, he hitched a ride on the ThanosCopter and now resides at the Outhouse, bringing his snark, elf hat, pointy shoes, and very big gun to a new generation of comic readers. His Give-A-Fuck quotient is stuck at zero.

Frankenstein is the swordwielding monsterfighting monster formerly employed by S.H.A.D.E., a global agency dedicated to fighting weird stuff. Unfortunately, Dan Didio laid off Frankenstein due to low sales, and Frank quickly lost the bulk of his intelligence trying to piece together DC continuity while updating his resume. Luckily, the Outhouse's staff is largely made up of dumb beasts, and Frank is now working as an contributing reporter while he is between jobs.

J.M. Hunter is best expressed as an artist who enjoys working in many mediums. One of them is writing. In the guise of InDiY Hunter, J.M. Hunter’s focus is as an independent comics creator who interviews other Independent artists/creators and showcases their personal ideologies and stories. The “hits” and “almost-got’ems” of the creative collective that do their craft not because it’ll make them rich but because they love what they do, even when they don’t is a special kind of magic. This is the reward that keeps on giving and J.M. Hunter likes it. HE LIKES IT!

Jeff Kromer was born in the year of our Lord 1980. The son of a boxcar tramp and Miss Nebraska 3rd Runner Up 1974 he distinguished himself early in life as “one of those guys who’s really good at carnival games”. After a failed bid for Sooner County Indiana FFA President he went into seclusion for 9 years. He emerged post NuHostess and began writing comic book reviews. He is a sousaphone enthusiast.

Jeremy was born in a small mountain village of a strange foreign land called Weystvurginea. Banishment for liberal views saw him spend years wondering the east coast until he decided to bike to California. When he saw how long a trip it was, he drove instead. Now he's living it up in a low humidity climate, sometimes working on his photography and when not, he writes for us covering books (by way of his blog: Reading Realms), gaming, tv, movies, comics, conventions in the SoCal area, and creates a weekly webcomic: A Journey Through Skyrim. If you look for him offline, start in the L.A. area; online start at: www.jeremyshane.info for his profile and all the social networks he's on... or just follow him on twitter, he seems to be on there a lot: @jeremyshane.

Listen: Joe is a cranky old man unstuck in time. He spends most of his time reading, writing and perfecting the art of 7 Little Words. When he isn't doing one of the previous things, he’s likely to be enjoying a soccer match, a fine episode of television or napping with his two dogs. You can follow his inane actions and rants on his twitter @toejben.

Keb Ellis is the Outhouse’s first columnist. He enjoys lying on his bed and reading comics while listening to records, but gets frustrated when he has to get up off the bed to flip the record. In addition to writing Peeing in Your Shower, the Outhouse’s most serious column ever, he serves as an editor for upcoming ace reporters. He will also be hosting a new vinyl review video show for the Outhouse (project tentative). He lives in Toronto and has a taco terrier named Phife. He cannot dunk a basketball ... yet! Beautiful single women between the ages of 20 and 35 can follow him on Twitter, where is he known to make an ass of himself on a regular basis.

Kristian Jackson lives and works in Manchester, England. His love of comics was inspired by X-Men: The Animated Series, and encouraged by the proprietor of a local comicbook store who unfortunately turned out to be a murderer. Meaning Kristian had to find a new place to buy his back issues. He has his own blog (Identity Crutches), and can be found on Twitter (@IdentityCrutch and @KristianAlanTom).

When Luke isn't writing reviews, he's writing manuals (occupation), original comics (vocation), children's books, or music (recreation). As a lover of all things high-concept, sci-fi, and/or philosophical, comics found their way into his life only a few years ago, at the ripe age of 26. It was V for Vendetta & Watchmen that led to his pathological media consumption rebirth of 2012. Ever since then, he found himself happier, more child-like, a tad bit smarter, and a much better liar. True to Outhouser gospel, he believes humor, like water, must be present in all things. If it's not, it's too dry & sucks the life out. Sarcasm, the salty demeanor of the South, frightened this idealist in youth, but is now the occasional spice used in his well seasoned personality. He sold all he had to leave his old world behind (cars, house, belongings) & become a full-time traveler across the US of A, a decision that altered his inner world as much as his outer one. If it has humor, depth, spiritual significance, and/or technicality and in that order, then consider it on this briny dude's shelf and up for review. Favorite on-going series include Black Science and Saga. This light, but deep fellow can be found on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Trapped in a world he never made, Matt is a comic-book obsessive and frequent internet user. GSOH with a vast and mostly useless knowledge of Marvel comics, Matt is currently striving to expand his reading experience into the DC Universe and as much Independent work as his bookshelf will support.
Surrounded by dreams of making it big, when he's not on Twitter (@MattLune) he can be found on his own site, AwesomeSourceComics.com.

Max is a connoisseur of Persian cats, early 2000's pop-punk and cheap beer. You can find Max on most nice days riding his bicycle to the nearest coffee shop to try and act as hipster as possible. If he isn't reading comics or watching The Wire for 10th time, he's most likely sleeping, because he doesn't do much. His accomplishments are as follows: Self-proclaimed taco king, semi-professional nap taker, coolest scene kid of 2006 and husband to a hot wife. Find him on AIM or Myspace trying to re-live his glory days under the screen name: CHOICEisAgraveYard.

MrKent writes for the Outhouse, having been won by Christian Hoffer in a poker game with Perry White. He's not a superhero, but he does talk to them, getting their perspective on all the latest news and events. He has had restraining orders served to him by at least 17 members of the superhuman community, with at least a dozen more pending.

Niam Suggitt, Punchy to his friends, is the most humblest of all the Outhouse writers. His easy going manner and ability to see and recognize the point of views of those who he disagrees with has made him one of the most sought after members of our community to resolve conflicts. Although he likes all of you, and considers everyone to be his friend, Punchy would prefer you use “Niam Suggitt” when quoting him for the front cover blurb on your book. Follow this wonder of a man at @NiamSuggitt, if you want to, he’s cool with you either way.

A proud member of NBCUniversal's and A+E Television Networks’ Digital Media Teams, Nightfly routinely interviews producers, creators and stars of various network programs and films with a concentrated emphasis on the Syfy channel. Formally educated in Communications, Computer Science and Music, his résumé reflects more than a decade broadcasting in the fields of television and radio. With pieces routinely published at ScreenFad and Press Pass L.A., his primary areas of interest include TV, film, music, web series, comic books, fashion, pen 'n paper RPG gaming as well as various other pop-culture topics. An avid Twitter user, Nightfly supports the arts, the entertainment community, numerous charities and crowdfunding projects through his journalistic netizenship and non-partisan, multicultural-centric activism.

Radd Roberson lives and works in Gainesville, FL. Yes, that's his real name. Stop asking. He's had a beard for as long as he can remember, because if not, he takes on the appearance of a small man child. He lives with two dogs, a dachshund and corgi (weakness for stubby little legs). He enjoys video games, football (especially the fantasy kind), and hockey, but most of all, comic books. Sweet, sweet comic books.

As Senior Media Correspondent (which may be a made-up title), Royal Nonesuch tends to spearhead a lot of film and television content on The Outhouse. He's still a very active participant in the comic book section of the site, though. Nonesuch writes reviews of film, television, and comics, and conducts interviews for the site as well. You can reach out to him on Twitter or with Email.

Rui Esteves is definitely from Peru and has a blog! Rui tries to find the good in everyone, which is difficult when he has to work for this hive of scum and villainy, but he makes do. Rui does so enjoy graphic novels, as evident from the name of his blog: Reading Graphic Novels, twitter handle: @RGNblog, and Facebook page: rgnblog.

Scot Meek currently works and resides in Christchurch, New Zealand. Although he does have the luxury of residing in Middle Earth, due to the distance he suffers a one week shipment delay for comics. This often means being late to many a discussion party online! Despite this he is always early to jump onto any new comics releasing and loves variety. Contact or follow him via twitter (@scot_meek) with any thoughts or comments.

Stoneman is the Chief of Standards and Practices for The Outhouse, and the biggest proponent of eliminating The Outhouse's snarky news initiative and returning journalistic integrity and corporate favor to the site. Stoneman abhors the shock blog antics of internet comics bad boys ThanosCopter, Jude Terror, GHERU, El Presidente, and Frankenstein: Former Agent of S.H.A.D.E., and doesn't really care for the less snarky reporters either, to be honest. Stoneman uses his position to keep the Outhouse writers in check and advance the objectives of the public relations departments of major comic book publishers.

ThanosCopter is a specially designed helicopter built to transport Thanos the Mad Titan. Built by Sterling Custom Helicopters, ThanosCopter appeared in several Marvel comics, before being abandoned by its owner during the character's ascension into major villainy. ThanosCopter was discovered by the Outhouse and given a second chance at life. He now buzzes merrily around the comic book industry, spreading snark, satire and humor like candy to small children.

The Professor is the sad clown of the Outhousers Team, unsure whether to laugh or cry. While he may not be an actual professor, we assure you he has a pile of useless degrees on par with any full-time slave of academia. With an unflinching nose for the stinking underbelly of the comic book industry, the Professor travels the country breaking imaginary news and avoiding creditors. A hobo philosopher at heart, Prof realizes all of his efforts mean nothing in the end, so why not have a laugh until then?

The Resident seems pretty ok: we have no idea having never met him (her?). Um, S/He likes TV and walks in the sand. The Outhouse is pretty sure that Her/His twitter handle is @sundrops33. Why do we keep around a staff member we cannot identify? Those lovely unique hits her/his reviews of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic brings us. The Resident has done more to generate ad revenue than all other writers combined, totaling over $12 in the year s/he’s been writing for us. Keep up the good work!

Dustin prefers to go by the name of Wildcard, and he wont tell you his last name because then he would have to kill you. Or mostly because it's unpronounceable to most people. His love of comics formed during the 90's when Superman was dying and Batman was broken. Years later when touring with a band around 2008 the only thing he had to do was read extensive amounts of comics and catch up on all the missed years of stories, therefore the wealth of knowledge in his head is insurmountable by anyones standards. He considers himself extremely opinionated when it comes to comic books or any form of media, which has always caused arguments and butt hurt a plenty due to his outspoken opinions on such things. In his spare time he writes some comics he hopes to get published one day and is a graphic designer. He sometimes wishes Nicolas Cage was his real father. Hail Sagan. Follow Wildcard on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

“Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the weight of oceans and the turning stars. Whole universes fit in there! But what do we choose to keep in this miraculous cabinet? Little broken things, sad trinkets that we play with over and over. The world turns our key and we play the same little tune again and again and we think that tune's all we are.”